Thomas Snagge (1536–1593) was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, barrister and landowner who served as Speaker of the English House of Commons,

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

and as Queen's Sergeant.Bedfordshire Library Website, Local Biographies - Thomas Snagge
retrieved 3 January 2009

Life

Snagge was born in 1536 in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

. He was the son of Thomas Snagge, the prosperous lord of the manor of Marston Moretaine in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

. He studied law at Gray's Inn, and after being called to the bar in 1554 practiced law in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Snagge was elected as a

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

in 1571. He was chosen by Queen Elizabeth to be

and held this appointment from 1577 to 1580. The Queen chose him because he had a reputation for efficiency, and "the public service had been not a little hindered through the default and insufficiency of m the rishlaw officers" and "her Majesty thought that a person well-chosen in England might be sent over". Snagge as it turned out was not particularly well-chosen: he had not wanted the job and disliked living in Ireland and, according to a modern writer, his official correspondence is simply a long list of complaints. In particular, he complained of the inefficiency of the

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respons ...

, Nicholas White, and went so far as to make an official complaint against him to the Privy Council of England. In 1580 he was appointed a

Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not commonly ...

.Hart ''The King's Serjeant-at-law in Ireland'' In 1586 Snagge was again returned as one of the members of parliament for Bedfordshire and in 1589 for the

borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The borou ...

. In 1589 he was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons and in 1590 was promoted to Queen's Serjeant. As well as owning several manors in Bedfordshire, his home seat was at Marston Moretaine.A History of Moreteyne Manor - Moreteyne Manor website
retrieved 3 January 2009 Snagge died in 1593 and was entombed in St Mary's Church, Marston Moretaine, where an

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

tomb carrying effigies of him and his wife survives. He had married Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Dickons of Marston Moretaine; they had five sons and two daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, also a member of parliament (for Bedford in 1586).

References

History of Parliament SNAGGE, Thomas I (1536-93) of Marston Mortaine, Beds
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Snagge, Thomas 1536 births 1593 deaths People from Letchworth Members of Gray's Inn Speakers of the House of Commons of England Serjeants-at-law (England) English lawyers English knights English MPs 1571 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 16th-century English lawyers People from Marston Moreteyne Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)